“You are way stronger than I am Audrey,” Fallon said, because it was true. Fallon wouldn’t be where she was without Audrey. Audrey was her back bone.

“No I’m not. You stand up for yourself, I don’t, but this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and I know you can do this. I know you don’t want what you said to Lucas to be the last thing you say to him, and I know that you don’t want Aiden to think he doesn’t have to apologize when he says hurtful things. Set an example Fallon, be the person I know and love. Don’t be scared.”

A stray tear went down Fallon’s cheek as she looked over at Audrey. How did she get so lucky to have such an amazing sister? She was completely right, Fallon needed to stand up and be the person that she wanted her son to be. Even though her heart felt like it was cracking in two, she knew that Aiden didn’t mean it. She also knew that she could fix things with Lucas — she had to, no matter how scared she was of his rejection. It would work out, she hoped.

“I love you, Audrey.”

Audrey smiled before reaching over and wiping Fallon’s tears away. “And I love you. Now get up, and go clean up. Go beg for forgiveness,” she said with a grin as she stood up, helping Fallon up.

Fallon stood for a moment as Audrey moved around the kitchen, cleaning up the bottle of wine and wine glass Fallon had brought out. “Not yet.”

Audrey turned looking at her, “Why?”

A slow hopeful smile came across Fallon’s lips, “I’m gonna make him dinner first.”

Lucas sat at the island in his kitchen, staring down at the sandwich and pop that sat beside his plate.

Because you’re stupid! Who thinks it’s okay to break bones?!

Lucas closed his eyes, digging his fingers into his eye sockets as he let out a long breath. He was hurting. Badly. Not only did what Fallon say cut him like a knife, but the whole afternoon at the hospital had taken a toll on him. Watching his little guy cringe in pain and try not to cry was so hard that Lucas thought he was going to break down. Aiden had stayed so strong. He never even cried. He screamed when the puck first hit him but there were no tears. He just kept saying, ‘I’m so sorry, Daddy’ and Lucas still wasn’t sure if Aiden understood that it wasn’t his fault. He is a kid, Lucas should have been more careful. Should have watched where he was shooting instead of doing it blindly.

Fallon was right, he was careless and stupid. How could he hurt his little guy? His one and only. He had been downstairs shooting pucks mindlessly since he moved into the house, but with Aiden down there with him, he should have known better. He should have been a better father. A good dad wouldn’t have hurt his kid. Lucas’ dad never hit him with the puck, even when Lucas would guard the net. James’ precision was on point. The puck never came anywhere near him. Lucas used to do the same thing with Fallon, he would hit everywhere but her. What was wrong with him? Was Fallon clouding his brain that much? Lucas shook his head as he picked the bread off the top of his sandwich.

Fallon’s words were like knives every time he thought about them. He couldn’t believe that nasty word came out of such a beautiful, special mouth. Even when Fallon was screaming at him about everything under the sun, he never cared. He knew that she would get over it and they would be making up sooner rather than later. But not this time, this time his heart felt like it was dead in his chest. The person that he would give anything to, the person that he trusted with his life and more had called him something that could really cut him in half. He wasn’t mad at her, he was hurt. In a way that was worse. It was easy to get over angry, but being hurt to the soul could take a long time to get over. Lucas loved Fallon more than anything and that probably was why he was hurting so bad. If she thought he was stupid, no telling what else she thought.

Lucas hated the word. It was so easy to say, but it could honestly cut someone in half if they thought for a second that they were. Lucas was a confident man, but with his dyslexia, he never felt like he was smart. Fallon had never made him feel like he was less of a man; she always treated him like he was the smartest man in the room, until now. Now she had called him it.

Lucas was first called it in third grade when he couldn’t read what was on the chalkboard. Everyone laughed and called him stupid. It was one of the worst days of his childhood. Lucas remembered coming home and crying to Molly, but he wouldn’t tell her why his classmates had called him that. He only said they did. It went on all through middle school, and didn’t stop until he threw Jerome Ferrell into a locker. He threatened to kill the guy if he ever said it again, and no one ever did after that. That was when Lucas started walking around as if he was the biggest bad ass on campus, and in a way he was.

That was how he used to feel. Now he just felt empty and he couldn’t stand feeling that way. He wanted to go upstairs, sleep the night away, and forget about all the problems in his life, but Levi had females upstairs — and they were loud ones. That was the only thing he didn’t like about living with Levi, the dude was constantly sleeping with someone. Lately, he had been having a girl that was a screamer, and Lucas really thought one night that Levi was killing the girl; she was letting out blood-curdling screams. A shiver went down Lucas’ body at the thought. He liked when Fallon was loud, but not as loud as Levi’s chick had been. That was scary.

Lucas picked at his sandwich some more before standing up and throwing it in the sink. He wasn’t hungry and his stomach was turning, so eating was the last thing on his mind. He went back to the bar and sat down grabbing his iPad. He needed to see if Aiden was on, but Levi usually did that for him and since he was busy at the moment, Lucas decided he would play a game. Aiden was probably still laid up on the couch while Fallon and Audrey spoiled him.